RIVERSIDE - A Riverside man was arrested on suspicion of committing a hate crime after a transgendered woman reported being shoved to the ground, police said Thursday.
The 60-year-old Riverside woman was accosted about 11 a.m. Wednesday outside her home, Riverside police Officer Felix Medina said. Her name was not released because she was the victim of a hate crime, police said.
Police arrested Matthew Beaudin, 21, on suspicion of battery, making criminal threats and committing a hate crime, Medina said. He was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
The woman told police Beaudin made comments about her gender before shoving her to the ground with his shoulders, Medina said. She didn't suffer any serious injuries, he said.
She said he threatened her with a knife, but police didn't find one in Beaudin's possession when he was arrested, Medina said.
Wednesday's assault was the second investigated as a hate crime by Riverside police in the past month.
On May 12, a 23-year-old Las Vegas man dressed as a woman was hit in the head with a brick as he walked in the 1900 block of University Avenue. Police have made no arrests in that case.
In June 2002, 40-year-old Jeffery Owens died after being stabbed outside a Riverside gay bar. Five men were arrested and charged in the case, but a judge later ruled the slaying was not a hate crime.
Six Riverside hate crimes linked to sexual orientation were reported to the FBI in 2001, the latest year for which statistics are available.
Reach Andrea Cavanaugh at (909) 368-9460 or acavanaugh@pe.com
